Our next talk tomorrow Thursday 22nd October in the Parish Rooms Pinney Room (note not the URC) starts at 7:30 pm. The article below should give you an idea of what to expect:

GOREN Farm was awarded a commendation in Britain’s Most Beautiful Farm Awards earlier this year. It was given on merit of conservation, sustainability and profitability in farming and Julian Pady, who has been at the farm since 2001, although it has been in his family since 1955, is particularly proud of this. “It is a farm essentially, but hay has been made here since the 1800s, so there has always been a seed bank here of wild flower seeds,” says Julian. “Since 2003, we have been cutting the fields particularly for the flowers, rather than when the grass is best for hay. “I suppose we are very unusual, compared to most of the gardens on the scheme, but a lot of people come because they want to establish their own meadows in their own gardens — maybe not on our scale,” he laughs, “but they are looking at how we manage our meadows and how we manage our weeds. “They also want to know what grows in this area — they are usually people from the West Country who are looking for a local seed source that will grow well here.” Julian is one of the only traditional seed sellers who harvest from a wild seed bank rather than propagating or buying in seeds, and visitors can buy the seed in person or order it on the internet.
The meadows are ever changing, not only from month to month but also daily. In June, there are tens of thousands of orchids — the southern marsh orchid, the common spotted and the heath spotted.” says Julian. “They have also hybridised among themselves, so there are lots of different ones to see. “Now the cat’s ear daisy is out, we have a blaze of yellow in the mornings and early afternoon, but by about three they have all closed up and it looks completely different.” Looking out over the field in front of the house, where the stately 180-year-old lime tree is home to a huge colony of jackdaws, it is sad to think that 98 per cent of this type of wildflower meadow has been lost in this country. However, that only makes Goren Farm all the more special.